Do not start by redesigning the site

When a business website suddenly stops producing leads, first determine whether the failure is availability, trust, conversion or tracking. A complete redesign can wait until the urgent failure is understood.

Triage checklist

  • Confirm the domain resolves to the expected host
  • Check SSL certificate validity and browser warnings
  • Open the site on cellular data and another network
  • Test every lead form and verify where submissions go
  • Test phone, WhatsApp and email buttons on mobile
  • Check recent DNS, hosting, plugin or code changes
  • Review obvious 404s and broken navigation
  • Confirm robots.txt and noindex settings were not changed accidentally

Protect evidence before making changes

Take screenshots, note the exact error and make a backup when possible. Emergency troubleshooting gets harder when five unrelated settings are changed at once and nobody remembers the original state.

Fix revenue-impacting failures first

For a business website, a broken quote form or call button can be more urgent than a cosmetic spacing issue. Prioritize the path a customer uses to trust the company and make contact.